"Filter-feeder; feeds on small crustacean algae and unicellular organisms. Very gregarious, living in flocks usually numbering in the thousands. Pink coloring comes from a pigment that the animal consumes. In captivity, this pigment must be manufactured into the flamingo's food, or else the animal would be a dull buff color. Flamingos require shallow water and lots of mud; nests are built by surrounding the egg with a large pile of mud, which is then incubated for around thirty days." (info from Ft. Worth Zoo website)